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UK firms facing skills death

Published: February 22, 2016

Businesses across the country are facing severe staffing shortages due to the recovery in the British economy, it has emerged.

A report from the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) showed that the number of positions left vacant because employers cannot find people with the skills or knowledge to fill them has risen by 130 per cent since 2011. The research found that “skills shortage vacancies” now make up nearly a quarter of all job openings and has risen from a level of 91,000 in 2011 to 209,000 in 2015.

Over a third of vacancies in electricity, gas, water and construction professions are now due to skills shortages, with transport and manufacturing not far behind. Speaking about the findings, Lesley Giles, deputy director at the UKCES, said: “With global competition intensifying, the UK urgently needs to boost its productivity.

To do that, we need people with the right skills. But that’s only half the story. Creating good jobs that produce high-quality, bespoke goods and services is just as important. “The Employer Skills Survey provides a wealth of data to enable businesses, training providers and policymakers to make informed decisions about what needs to be done to boost jobs, productivity and prosperity throughout the UK.”

The financial services sector has seen the sharpest rise in skills shortages, rising from ten per cent in 2013 to 21 per cent last year, according to the findings. Productivity and time management were also problematic, with many HR leaders stating that nearly 60 per cent of establishments who reported a skills gap are saying that their staff lacked the ability to manage their own time and prioritise tasks.

On the other side of the coin, nearly two million workers are not utilising the skills they have in their current job. Mitrefinch offers HR software that can provide valuable information to employers when drawing up their rotas.

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